Wolrd Religion

A leading critic of Scientology is to travel to Australia to support Senator Nick Xenophon's campaign for an inquiry into the tax-exempt status of the church.

As a Scientology, Gerry Armstrong tried to debunk criticism of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard but says, "I discovered that the lies that I was trying to debunk were actually the truth and that Hubbard had lied..."

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Prosecutors won the right Wednesday to introduce evidence from a previous faith-healing death in the extended family of Jeffrey and Marci Beagley, whose teenage son died in June 2008 from an untreated medical condition.

The Beagleys also were present when their 15-month-old granddaughter, Ava, died March 2, 2008, at the home of their daughter Raylene Worthington and her husband.

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A doctor considered an expert in the disease that killed a 16-year-old Oregon City boy told a jury Thursday that the boy could have been saved right up to the last minute if his faith-healing parents had sought medical care.

The parents are members of the Followers of Christ Church and reject doctors in favor of faith healing through prayer, anointing with oil and laying on hands.

The church has left a trail of dead children in its wake.

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